Scientific classification: The tiger is a member of the cat family, Felidae, in the order Carnivora, class Mammalia. Its scientific name is Panthera tigris. In the past scientists have classified tigers into eight subspecies, five of which are still living.
Introduction
The Tiger is the largest member of the cat family and the only wild cat with striped fur. why are tigers endangered, Perfectly designed predators, tigers possess beauty, grace, and awesome power. Their presence in the wild, revealed by a throaty roar or a track on a dusty trail, electrifies the forest and sends shivers down the spines of all who share its space. Humans admire tigers as much as they fear them, and the animals figure prominently in Asian myths, religions, arts, and imagination. Tigers were once found throughout the forested regions of tropical and temperate Asia. Excessive hunting and destruction of tiger habitat have now narrowed the tiger’s range to a few isolated patches throughout Asia. Many people have organized local and international conservation organizations to prevent tigers from becoming extinct.
Among the 36 cat species, tigers are most closely related to lions, leopards, and jaguars. why are tigers endangered, these cats evolved from a common ancestor that was probably similar to modern leopards or jaguars and lived more than 5 million years ago.
Habitat
Scientists estimate that at the beginning of the 20th century 100,000 tigers flourished throughout Asia, from eastern Russia and Korea through eastern and southern China, Southeast Asia, the Indian sub-continent, and into Pakistan, with separate populations around the Caspian Sea and on the Indonesian islands of Bali, Java, and Sumatra. why are tigers endangered At the start of the 21st century only 5,000 to 7,000 tigers lived in the wild in just 14 Asian countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Nepal, North Korea, Russia, Sumatra, Thailand, and Vietnam. Tigers are now extinct in Bali, Java, and around the Caspian Sea, and nearly so in China and North Korea. Less than 20 percent of today’s tiger habitat is located in national parks or other protected areas, which means that the majority of the areas where tigers live could be lost to other uses, such as agriculture or urbanization.
Tiger Distribution
In the past scientists classified tigers into eight subspecies based on variations in size, coat color, and striping. Although tigers are no longer classified into subspecies, many people continue to refer to tigers using their subspecies names, in part because these names refer to where the animals are found. Using this naming system, three subspecies are now extinct. why are tigers endangered The Caspian tiger once lived in Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, and the Central Asiatic region of Russia; it became extinct in the 1950s. The Javan tiger once lived on the island of Java and became extinct in the 1970s. The Bali tiger lived on the island of Bali; the last wild Bali tiger was killed in the late 1930s.
Conservation
The combination of habitat loss, population fragmentation, and poaching are pushing the tiger to the brink of extinction. To protect the animal, the tiger is listed as endangered by both the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species List and the Red List of Threatened Species compiled by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), a nongovernmental organization that compiles global information on endangered plants and animals. why are tigers endangered The tiger is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which makes it illegal to trade tigers or tiger parts.